HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL HOLDS CLUSTERED INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE ON THE INDEPENDENCE OF JUDGES AND ON INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY

The Human Rights Council this afternoon started its clustered interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and the Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity.

Monica Pinto, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, said that the independence and impartiality of justice systems were still extremely vulnerable, under attack or even non-existent in some parts of the world. A set of judicial indicators would be a useful tool for drawing a more accurate map of the situation of the justice system in each country. She spoke about her visit to Guinea Bissau.

Virginia Dandan, Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity, said that recent consultations she had held had highlighted the need to bring more clarity to the definition of a right to international solidarity, to clarify whether it should be understood as a claimable right or a right of moral force. She spoke about her visit to Morocco.

Guinea Bissau and Morocco spoke as concerned countries. Conseil National des Droits de l’Homme du Maroc also spoke.

During the interactive dialogue, speakers expressed interest in the Special Rapporteur’s proposal to develop a set of indicators on national judicial institutions. Some said that the focus should not be on elaborating new norms but rather on the full and effective implementation of the existing relevant standards on judicial independence, while paying attention to addressing grave emerging challenges such as the use of terrorism and assassinations as forms of pressure. Regarding the topic of human rights and international solidarity, it was noted that any new framework should include clear norms of transparency.

Speaking were European Union, Dominican Republic on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Israel, Botswana, Egypt, Estonia, Iran, France, Republic of Korea, Council of Europe, Ecuador, Pakistan, Namibia, and the United States.

Thailand, Egypt, Indonesia and China spoke in right of reply.

The Council will meet on Thursday, 16 June at 9 a.m., to hold its annual full-day discussion on the human rights of women, followed by the continuation of its clustered interactive dialogue on the independence of judges and lawyers and on human rights and international solidarity during its midday meeting.

Documentation

The Council has before it the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers (A/HRC/32/34).

The Council has before it an addendum to the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers – mission to Guinea Bissau (A/HRC/32/34/Add.1).

The Council has before it the Report of the Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity (A/HRC/32/43).

The Council has before it an addendum to the Report of the Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity – mission to Morocco (A/HRC/32/43/Add.1).

The Council has before it an addendum to the Report of the Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity – mission to Morocco – comments by the State – corrigendum (A/HRC/32/43/Add.2/Corr.1).

Presentation of Reports

MONICA PINTO, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, said that it was essential to take the legacy of her predecessors into account when working on improving the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession. Establishing a set of indicators on the independence of justice systems was one of the Special Rapporteur’s priorities. The independence and impartiality of justice systems were still extremely vulnerable, under attack or even non-existent in some parts of the world. The natural context for the realization of the independence of justice systems was clearly that of democracy. Any legal provision protecting the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession became void if there was no commitment to protect it. The independence of judges and lawyers should not be taken for granted, but it required continuous attention and monitoring. A set of judicial indicators would be a useful tool for drawing a more accurate map of the situation of the justice system in each country. The Special Rapporteur would also strive to reinforce understanding of the universality and centrality of her mandate to the protection and promotion of human rights.

Ms. Pinto informed that she had visited Guinea Bissau from 10 to 16 October 2015. The justice system in the country was distant from the people, difficult to access and too expensive for the majority of the population, who did not trust formal judicial authorities. The salaries of judges and prosecutors were not adequate, while corruption was widespread. Impunity was rampant, political instability was high and crimes of the past were still to be addressed. Donor countries and the United Nations system were called upon to continue providing close and continued technical and financial support so that Guinea Bissau could implement the recommendations from the report. Turning to her recent visit to Sri Lanka, Ms. Pinto noted that the country was at a crucial moment in its history, with the re-installed Constitutional Council and the new members of the Human Rights Commission. Strengthening the independence of the justice system as a whole was essential not only to contribute to guarantees of non-recurrence, but also to improve the population’s everyday experience with the justice system. The Government was encouraged to seriously consider the recommendations from Ms. Pinto and Mr. Juan Mendez’s end-of-visit statements and to remain engaged with the Human Rights Council.

VIRGINIA DANDAN, Independent Expert on Human Rights and International Solidarity, presented a summary report of the mandated regional consultations on the draft declaration on the right of peoples and individuals to international solidarity, undertaken since April 2015 as per Council Resolution 26/6. Her report featured a summary of comments and recommendations, which she was now carefully considering with a view to submit the draft declaration to the Council in June 2017. The series of regional consultations brought together relevant stakeholders, invited to address specific relevant themes. Discussions were also devoted to international cooperation as a duty of States, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, climate change, cross-border migration, and terrorism, among others. Consultations highlighted the need to bring more clarity to the definition of a right to international solidarity, she said, to clarify whether it should be understood as a claimable right or a right of moral force. It was also necessary that all international actors, including transnational businesses and inter-governmental organizations, were explicitly referred to in the draft declaration with clearly articulated roles and obligations. Consultations had highlighted the need for greater emphasis on the extraterritorial obligations of States, including vis-a-vis activities of business enterprises. Further, the draft declaration should include references to regional mechanisms and specify their role.

Ms. Dandan also presented the report on her country visit to Morocco and Western Sahara in January 2016. She welcomed that the principle of solidarity was recognized in the 2011 Moroccan Constitution, and highlighted a few initiatives by the Government, including the National Initiative for Human Development, a nationwide mapping of development projects funded by external bilateral and multi-lateral donors, and Morocco’s commitment to implement the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and partnerships for development. She acknowledged efforts made to fully integrate civil society in the design and implementation of social assistance programmes, and noted that the draft bill on civil society should provide a platform to ensure that all civil society organizations could enjoy the equal opportunity to access development funds — whether domestic or foreign. She encouraged the adoption of a national human rights-based policy framework for human development, which would allow for better coordinated efforts and for the monitoring of indicators to fully measure the human rights impact of the various programmes. Continuing, Ms. Dandan welcomed Morocco’s ground-breaking policy on refugees and migrants, as well as its commitment to address climate change. Referring to her one day visit to the city of Ad Dakhla in Western Sahara, she noted efforts made to promote solidarity with migrants and facilitate their integration into the local community, but regretted the absence of opportunities for international stakeholders to directly contribute to the advancement of economic, social and cultural rights in the area.

Statement by Concerned Countries

Guinea Bissau, speaking as a concerned country, said that the Government had extended an open, standing invitation to all Special Procedures. During Ms. Pinto’s visit, the authorities had fully cooperated with the Special Rapporteur, whose recommendations they would carefully study. The independence of judges was enshrined in the country’s Constitution, but there were, nonetheless, serious difficulties which at times compromised that independence. Thus, Guinea Bissau was calling for international cooperation and technical assistance. It was the first time Guinea Bissau was taking part in a Human Rights Council, and it thanked those whose funding had made that possible.

Morocco, speaking as a concerned country, stated that Morocco’s choice of openness was a firm pillar of its foreign policy, in which spirit Morocco had welcomed the Special Rapporteur and other Special Procedures. Many of the recommendations from the report had already been included in the plan that Morocco was implementing. The Special Rapporteur had had a chance to observe the efforts made by Morocco to promote and protect human rights, also in the context of South-South cooperation. The Green Morocco Plan and the National Initiative for Human Rights were among positive moves that had been noted by the Special Rapporteur. The Constitution of Morocco included values of attachment to openness, universally recognized human rights, and the maintenance of peace and security. Morocco was striving to contribute to the progress of other countries through sharing experiences and good practices.

Conseil National des Droits de l’Homme du Maroc commended the progress made in Morocco, particularly at the level of the constitutional recognition of the rights and international cooperation, including South-South. The Government should ensure the greater allocation of resources and ratify the key human rights instruments it was not yet a party to.

Clustered Interactive Dialogue

European Union said that its information tool, the European Union Justice Scoreboard, assisted its Member States to achieve more effective justice and it had presented in 2014 a first general overview of how justice systems were organized to protect judicial independence in certain risky situations. The European Union was doubtful about the translation of the principle of international solidarity into the language of human rights standards. Dominican Republic, speaking on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, reaffirmed the attachment to the principle of judicial independence and said that the political declaration of its Third Summit had reaffirmed the importance of South-South cooperation. Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, asked the Special Rapporteur to elaborate on which tools she would use to develop a set of indicators for measuring independence and impartiality and whether they would be universally used. The United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provided a strong foundation for the draft declaration, which defined international solidarity as a shared value. Israel said it was a strong democracy with a deep commitment to the rule of law, in which the judicial branch upheld the values of equality, freedom and respect for human rights. Botswana fully agreed that it was timely to revisit the work done on the independence of the judiciary and said that the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 16, provided an opportunity for States to review their commitment to the impartiality of judicial systems and ensure that that independence was sustained. Egypt agreed that the focus should not be on elaborating new norms but rather on the full and effective implementation of the existing relevant standards on judicial independence, while paying attention to addressing grave emerging challenges such as the use of terrorism and assassinations as forms of pressure. Egypt was looking forward to the finalized draft declaration on the human rights of people to international solidarity to be presented next year.

Estonia gave details of the domestic functioning of its judiciary, noting that a single system linked the payment of court costs and fees with the information system of the bailiffs, the police, prosecutors and prisons, thereby connecting all institutions of the justice system with data transferred automatically. Iran said that counter-terrorism measures had increased the pressure on the judiciary in a number of countries, giving rise to the question of how the international community could alleviate the vulnerability of judicial independence and impartiality in the cases of domestic armed conflict. France said it was the primary role of States to ensure the independence of the judiciary, and took note of the proposal to create a set of indicators on the situation of judiciaries defined by the international community, asking how it would fit into the system of the promotion and protection of human rights. Republic of Korea noted with appreciation the Special Rapporteur’s proposal to develop a set of indicators on national judicial institutions, adding that it was crucial that the indicators should be carefully designed to reflect the unique and intrinsic characteristics of the judicial function. Council of Europe listed recent reports and initiatives which were related to the topic under discussion, such as a Council of Europe Action Plan on “strengthening the independence and impartiality of the judiciary”, setting out the Council’s planned efforts and priorities in the area over the next five years. Ecuador said it had started the process of transforming its judiciary, a process which did not just focus on the independence of the judiciary, but also shortened the length of proceedings. Regarding the report on human rights and international solidarity, it was noted that a new framework should include clear norms of transparency and in cases of violation, the first step should be the recognition of responsibility of all stakeholders.

Pakistan said that the judiciary in Pakistan enjoyed complete freedom and independence, and had always played a pivotal role in ensuring the rights of citizens, including minorities and vulnerable groups, and providing them with effective remedy. Pakistan supported the work by the Independent Expert on international solidarity and looked forward to receiving the revised draft declaration. Portugal underlined the importance of the independence and impartiality of the judiciary for the protection of human rights, and asked what targets and indicators should be created to monitor the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals pertaining to the rule of law and access to justice. Namibia said that States had to observe rigorous mechanisms for the appointment and protection of the independence of judges and lawyers, in line with international standards, and presented domestic efforts in that regard. United States said that it was deeply troubled about the judicial system in Venezuela, urging it to allow political prisoners equal access before the law. The United States was also deeply concerned about restrictions on the space of civil society activity in Egypt, and about physical intimidation against human rights lawyers in China.

Right of Reply

Thailand, speaking in a right of reply, said that combatting trafficking in persons was a national priority in the country and allegations of corruption of the police were not acceptable.

Egypt, speaking in a right of reply, said that the independence, immunity and impartiality of judges and lawyers were guaranteed and that interference in their work was not permitted. It was astonishing that the United States was making such allegations, particularly in light of the inefficiency of its own judicial system and the lack of accountability in prosecuting and judging cases of violence against the African-American community.

Indonesia, speaking in a right of reply, rejected the accusations made by an non-governmental organization during the discussion on trafficking in persons and said that Indonesia had enacted impressive legislation on eradicating trafficking in persons and sexual exploitation of children. Further, Indonesia had played an important role in the Bali process on people smuggling and trafficking in persons.

China, speaking in a right of reply, said that the accusations by the United States represented a violation of China’s sovereignty and interference in its internal affairs. China was trying to build an official and authoritative judicial system and would continue to promote and protect human rights. The United States abused prisoners, tortured them, its gun violence was rampant, it conducted raids and kidnapped people and all that was evidence of the United States’ hypocrisy and double standards.


For use of the information media; not an official record

HRC16/070E